If Sin Never Happened

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:1-7 NIV)

Sin is our reality. We are born in it, raised in it and live in it every single day. Adam's and Eve's disobedience infected the entire human race with a fallen heart that it bent toward sin. In this reality, we do not become sinners because we sin. No, we sin because we are sinners with fallen, broken hearts.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

(Jeremiah 17:9 NIV)

You don't have to teach a baby to be selfish. Their entire orientation is toward themselves, their hunger, their tiredness, their discomfort in a wet or messy diaper. As adults we fight a constant war between the good we know we ought to do and the evil, selfish things we find ourselves doing. The Apostle Paul chronicles that inner conflict in Romans, chapter seven.

We stand in need of the grace of God, since we cannot save ourselves by our own goodness and good works.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6 NIV)

Tainted by our rebellious, selfish hearts, all our good deeds (righteous acts) are impure and dirty, like filthy rags in comparison to the holiness of God. We need a Savior. And thank God, He sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem us.

One of our young teens proposed the question: "If there were no sin, what would happen?" I believe the answer to that question is found in Genesis 2 and in Revelation 21 and 22. We would enjoy the unbroken fellowship with God seen in Genesis 2, with God walking with Adam and Eve in the garden and nothing between them. The Garden of Eden would have continued, and our innocence would not have been marred by sin. Our relationships would be perfect in love, meaning no bullying or fights or wars.

Like Revelation 21, God Himself would be with us, right in our midst. He would be our light and there would be no darkness, no sorrow, sin, illness or death. The picture in Revelation 21 is a depiction of Eden restored and endless love and life is the existence there.

Even nature would be healed. Scripture indicates creation itself was marred by human sin, and creation awaits our full redemption so it can be healed as well.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:18-22 NIV)

Here is good news for us as we consider what might be if sin never happened: this sin-free existence and redemptive healing begins in this life when we give our lives to Jesus Christ and begin to cooperate with God's sanctifying grace. Our sin nature is broken and we are free to live in the life and love of Jesus Christ here and now, not just on the other side of our physical death in heaven. With the love and Spirit of Jesus Christ alive in our hearts, sin's power is broken and we begin to walk in the freedom and joy of God's unconditional love.

The new thing God will make in heaven is Eden restored. But it doesn't wait till heaven to begin. There is Victory in Jesus here and now!

Oh victory in Jesus, my Savior forever

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood

He loved me 'ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him

He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood

By our full and ongoing surrender to Jesus Christ and His holy love, the power of sin is broken and we experience freedom to live the life abundant that Jesus promised in John, chapter 10:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

Pursue Jesus with all your heart. Surrender everything to Him. His sanctifying grace will set you free from the law of sin and death. To God be the glory!